‘Pinocchio’ Will Also Get the Live-Action Treatment From Disney

Disney is really going live-action crazy right now. Thanks to the success of Maleficent and Cinderella, the studio is ramping up their plan to give live-action makeovers to their classic animated properties. At this point, it seems fairly inevitable that every one of those classics will be remade as live-action features, like their latest addition: Pinocchio.

Per Deadline, Disney has added Pinocchio to their growing pile of live-action remakes, which also includes the recently-announced Winnie the Pooh and Mulan. About a Boy screenwriter Peter Hedges has been hired to pen the screenplay, which will be more like the 1883 Carlo Collodi version and less like Disney’s 1940 animated film. The original Collodi story is a bit darker and stranger than Disney’s animated film, and features stuff like Pinocchio accidentally killing the wise cricket, who later returns as a ghost.

Pinocchio joins a growing list of live-action updates in different stages of development: Jon Favreau is currently in production on The Jungle Book, while Bill Condon is preparing to head into production on Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. The studio is also currently developing live-action versions of Dumbo, Mulan and Winnie the Pooh, as well as an Alice and Wonderland sequel. There’s also the long-rumored Cruella De Vil film — like Maleficent, that movie would tell the story from the point of view of the 101 Dalmatians villain, although I’m not sure anyone is ready for a movie that defends a chain-smoking socialite who skins animals for her extravagant furs. Not in this economy, anyway.

We’re still holding our breath for Disney to announce a live-action Bambi — you know, like this one.